Mason Runner "Finishes" Boston Marathon

Kelli Wheeler is new to the running scene. When she went to Boston with her husband, she was determined to cross the finish line.

"0.8 miles from the finish line, that exhilaration that I had went to horror. They stopped us right there and said you can't go any further and none of us knew what was going on and they said bombs had gone off at the finish line," said Wheeler.

It was panic mode for the next 90 minutes. Streets were closed and phone lines were clogged. She finally got in touch with her husband after what seemed like hours. They were both safe, but emotions started sinking in.

"I was mad that somebody would take that away from all of us, we were there to cross that finish line, the big moment," Wheeler said.

Last week, Wheeler got an invitation to run on the track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway along with more than 30 runners who also couldn't finish the race in Boston.

"How great is it that they would invite us down there to do this and I kept thinking, how many other people am I going to finally meet that were in Boston and went through the same thing and have been going through all of this."

Wheeler says the "non-finishers" have formed a tight knit group. They stay connected to each other via their Facebook group, 5700 Boston Strong. On Sunday, they finally crossed the finish line.

"I broke down and started crying, it was just all the emotions of we finally crossed the line," Wheeler said.

She said after what happened in Boston, crossing the finish line of any race will always hold special meaning, something that inspires her to keep on going.

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